Samsung Galaxy fell to irrelevancy when their team scattered after winning the 2014 World Championship. The 2016 squad featured entirely different faces. Instead of stars and dominant MVP candidates, it was a collection of fledglings. But they did have Ambition -- one of the LCK's oldest veterans. And they did have one of the LCK's rising stars: Crown -- with his growth, perhaps they could lay claim to the throne. They earned their spot at the World Championship in stunning fashion, knocking off LCK powerhouse KT Rolster in the Korean Regional Qualifier. Then they crushed their group -- pegged as the "group of death" -- which included Worlds mainstays TSM and Royal Never Give Up. SSG’s emergence was thanks in large part to imposing play from solo laners Crown and CuVee. On the other side, Cloud9 -- North America's last hope -- received massive fan support, which rocked the Chicago Theater. Their spirits soared. But the introduction was as much noise as their side would make all series. C9 was consumed the way matter collapses when caught by a black hole. SSG's 3-0 rout was the organization’s merciless declaration to the world that they were back.

Led by Faker, Korea's SK Telecom T1 broke the "Champion’s curse" by becoming the first World Champion to return to the World Championship the following year. A back-to-back title wasn't just unprecedented -- nobody had ever even come close. SKT showed championship poise as they made short work of their group to set up this storied matchup. Their Quarterfinals opponent, Royal Never Give Up, featured three players with immense international experience in former champions Mata and Looper, as well as two-time Worlds Finalist Uzi. In all, this Quarterfinal would feature eight Championship rings. RNG got the best of SKT in the first game -- their players showed off their individual prowess and snowballed towards a victory. But SKT regrouped and showed off their teamwork, coordination, and patience. After the loss, SKT held RNG's aggression at the castle gate -- their battering ram was no more than a twig tossed at the SKT defense. It became all too clear they would not easily relinquish their throne.

ROX had just won their first LCK split after playing second fiddle to SKT for a year. Going into the tournament, many claimed Smeb was the new best player in the World. They had all the momentum. And though they eventually secured the top seed from their group, it wasn't without stumbles. Both ROX and Edward Gaming were stunned by International Wildcards in group play. EDG in particular was fraught with problems -- both on and off the Rift. They finished second in a group they were supposed to easily sweep, but before they had a chance to reconvene and assess what went wrong, a tragic loss forced their top laner, Mouse, to withdraw from competition. The Tigers pounced all over EDG's woes -- it was an unceremonious ending for a team that had gone undefeated in China's LPL Summer Split. For ROX, though, their sights were aimed beyond where EDG could reach. Their biggest rival -- SKT, the one team they couldn't beat -- again stood between them and the Summoner's Cup.

An injury to H2K's starting ADC, Freeze, forced them to mend their relationship with FORG1VEN -- a controversial figure with immense in-game talent. The reunion saw the team rise and contend with Europe's best to ultimately qualify for the World Championship. They then became Europe's only team to prevail in the Group Stage -- thanks particularly to strong lane phase performances -- to set up an unlikely matchup against Albus NoX Luna. ANX was the first International Wildcard team to make it to the Worlds Quarterfinals and immediately became a fan favorite. Unorthodox picks and strategies -- especially from support player Likkrit -- allowed them to defeat even the likes of the ROX Tigers in the Group Stage. But their aggression was quickly tempered at the hands of H2K, who crushed them in a clean 3-0 sweep. The win secured a Semifinals appearance for Europe again, who have managed that feat in five out of the six World Championships. H2K joined the three Korean teams in the Semifinals to try to prove that the perceived skill gap between Korea and the world was not so large.

In the Hollywood version of this matchup, the ROX Tigers are the hungry challenger. They are meant to be the relatable underdog. This entire season was their montage -- top laner Smeb captured the MVP award in both the LCK Spring and Summer Split. Then the Tigers won the Summer Split -- and finally, they stood at the top. But to win that title, they didn't have to beat SKT to get there. This fact weighed over them until they were given a chance to lift that burden from their back -- at Madison Square Garden in the heart of Manhattan. They pushed SKT to the concrete with some of the flashiest plays in Worlds history and a pocket Miss Fortune support pick. And up 2-1, the crowd roared behind them. But this wasn't the Hollywood version of this matchup. This was Faker's version. And SKT rallied behind him and the right hand of God, Bengi, to first stymie the Tigers' tide. And then, in the decisive fifth and final game, they stopped ROX for good. And if this challenge from the Tigers wasn't enough, then what what would it take to dethrone the king? For SKT, they'd only have to face one more would-be hero.

Samsung Galaxy's journey is the type of run every fan of every fringe team dreams of -- every team perpetually in fourth or fifth -- just once, you wish they'd knock off one of the favorites. And here was Samsung Galaxy -- a squad that helped knock off American favorite TSM in Groups, and then endured boos in Chicago before downing C9. Even fans of the LCK wished it was KT Rolster who were there instead of them. But SSG kept winning. All the way to the Semifinals. Against them was H2K, who'd yet to face a Korean team, and like everyone else before them, they unraveled. A decisive sweep showcased the major difference between Korea and the world. It wasn't individual mechanics or the drive to win. H2K had that. SSG thwarted H2K’s primary win condition -- win lane, win game -- and H2K failed to adapt. SSG stretched their win streak to 10 games. Against any other foe that year, they might have been the favorite. But in 2016 -- they would go on to face a foe looking to string together not just wins, but championships.

Throughout the 2016 World Championship, SKT demonstrated an ability to control the pace of the game -- it was a slow, methodical roll that ultimately flattened any would-be challengers. But this was their toughest year yet -- both the ROX Tigers, in the Semifinals, and SSG, in the Finals, pushed them to match point.

Their flashiest plays of the Finals were tied to SKT's elusiveness. The 2016 World Championship MVP was, once again, Faker. He was frequently the target of ganks, but he sidestepped so many abilities with ease. Time and again we watched him dance away from situations that seemed hopeless. This attribute extended to SKT as a whole. They were experts at denying opponents a fight. They kited and kited until the situation is favorable for them. Then they struck.

Samsung Galaxy clawed back into the series thanks to big heroics from veteran jungler Ambition -- clutch objective control around Baron and Elder Dragon served as the unexpected counterpunch. Perhaps SKT pushed the pedal too hard in trying to finish the series. Thanks to Ambition, Samsung’s laners managed to match SKT’s despite an overwhelming difference in experience. However, SKT matched Ambition’s savvy by bringing back Bengi. A return to a slower, constricting style slowly secured the fifth and final game of the set and subsequently the tournament.

When winning becomes routine, routine becomes a championship. SKT's back-to-back Championships are unprecedented. They’ve won three out of the last four World Championships. At the core of each of those victories was Faker and Bengi -- the two of them are easily the most accomplished duo in League of Legends history. Bang and Wolf also entered an elite pantheon by picking up their second World Championship titles.